heightned it by the variety The Chevalier in his first visits endeavour'd strongly to gain an interest in Madam Mazarins affections but not meeting with the success he desir'd he had not the patience to wait longer for it but all on the sudden broke off his amorous Addresses In a short time after I design'd to entertain the Queen of Sueden at a Consort of Musick and at the same time to take a little recreation as necessary for my self whose Element was Action and my greatest delight to set others at work My Sister and Brother were pretty good Friends then and though I knew both cold enough towards me I was so far from resenting it in the least that I told them with all sincerity my humour being uncapable of dissimulation I was not troubled at the care they both took to avoid seeing me The matter rested not there but my Musick applauded by every body else was so jeer'd by my Brother that he told me the Voices and the Airs were the pityfullest in the World and the Symphony worse My Sister though she said not a word confirm'd by her looks the censure he had past This anger'd me so that I fell out with them both being unwilling to be made their sport and their laughing-stock or to allow my Brother the satisfaction of the pleasure he took in provoking me by his crossness and contradictions Things being at this pass they plotted privately to go together into France and never let me know it till three days before they set out which they did without bidding me adieu The greater love we have for any person the more we resent an injury done by him I was both surpriz'd and griev'd at their absence and willing to know the cause of it I received a Letter from each of them wherein they told me with very good words that they had great business in France which call'd them thither but that my ill humour made them hasten their Journey yet they would come back again without fail if I desir'd to see them for which Madam Mazarin gave me her word To satisfie my curosity I expected their return without giving my self the displeasure of reading out their kind thoughts of me Soon after my Brothers arrival at Paris he marry'd a Kinswoman of Madam de Montespagne call'd Mademoiselle de Siange whose beauty assisted with the Kings perswasions brought him under a Yoke he never exprest any inclination for Madam Mazarin not thinking her self safe at Nevers where she staid and fearing the Duke her Husband might make use of his right and attempt something against her liberty she went to the Abby-Royal within ten Leagues of Paris where she continued till the King sent for her to know what she desir'd having at her arrival answer'd his Majesty she desir'd only a Pension to live handsomely in Italy she obtain'd it without difficulty The Chevalier de Lorrain in her absence accompanied us to some houses of Pleasure of the Constables where we commonly went a hunting Having spent some time in those Country sports we return'd to Rome where the Walks the Collations and sumptuous Treats given us sometimes in the Vineyards of the Family of Borghese sometimes at Montalto and sometimes in other places contributed not a little to our pleasure to continue which we resolv'd to treat one another by turns every Sunday Cardinal Chigi Prince Savelli the Chevalier de Lorrain the Dukes Sforza and Basanello who was the Constables Cousin being of the company so that we past the Carnaval with more pleasure than usual Pippa Acciaioli having obtain'd leave of the Pope to present an Opera About the end of the Spring Madam Mazarin performed her promise and I had the pleasure to see her again after nine Months absence more beautiful than ever But this satisfaction had like to have cost me dear for having taken Physick that day I got so strange a Collick by going abroad the day I had been purged that had it lasted a little longer it had certainly made an end of me I was so ill the most stony heart would have pitied me yet the Constable was not in the least mov'd at it at least in appearance having with wonderful tranquility and unconcern'd repose heard me groan frightfully a whole Night My Sister appear'd as little concern'd as the Constable while his Brother and all those about me exprest their sorrow for my pain they only excepted who were my nearest Relations who never troubled themselves for what should become of me However the violence of my Disease yielded at last to the strength of the Remedies us'd which effectually cur'd me Then it was the Chevalier de Lorrain presented me from Monsieur a full hunting Equipage of the value of a thousand Pistols garnish'd with an infinite deal of Ribbands the finest and richest in Paris which his Royal Highness had sent him to present me with Having been pleas'd to accept of a Present I had made his Highness of Gloves and other Toys not worth the speaking of The Chevalier procur'd me this Present who had not done him any service nor lent him any thing as was falsly reported it being certain he never wanted Money and was extreamly displeas'd with me for going about to borrow some to pay him my loosings at play The following Summer intending to take the pleasure of bathing my Brother Madam Mazarin and I went to Sebaron a passage very dangerous through the rapidity of the stream where the violence of the Water carry'd me with such force I had been certainly drown'd had I not been help'd by a Turkish Maid-servant that Monsieur Rospigliosi General of the Popes Galleys in Candy had bestowed on me She was more strong than big and with my Brothers assistance drew me out of the danger I was in This made us chuse a place of more safety in the Tyber near which we caused a Cabbin to be made to undress us in from whence we had a Gallery that reach'd just to the bathing place all made up of Canes Leaves and Boughs with admirable art The Autumn we spent in the Country and the Carnaval in seeing Operas as we us'd to do though not with equal pleasure the Constable of a long tme not having the same complaisance tenderness and esteem for me as formerly he seldom spoke to me and when he did it was in such Language I could have wish'd rather he had not spoken at all to me The Count Sermino his Brother formerly known by the name of the Abbot Colonna who had several times compos'd our differences and by his prudence hinder'd them from breaking out is a witness of my sufferings Not able to endure any longer such sensible displeasures and injuries I apply'd my thoughts to find out a remedy My Sister and I in the time of our bathings and walks had contracted a stricter amity than ever I resolv'd to take the advantage of the tenderness she had profest for me and earnestly pray'd her not to return into
the Bed the Posts whereof stood on four Sea-Horses mounted with as many Syrens so excellently cut and curiously guilt all that saw them thought them made of Massy-Gold ten or twelve little Cupids serv'd for Hooks and Claspes to hang the Curtains on which were of the richest Cloth of Gold and hung down loosely to hide from sight whatever might be thought ordinary in this sumptuous Bed which indeed was more for Ornament than use My young Son being much better and I so well as to give the Constable hopes of another Successor his Joy was so great that he declared he was never better satisfy'd never more at ease and to compleat his happiness he made it his business to give me cause of equal satisfaction I took my advantage of this favourable disposition and having a great desire to pass the Carnaval at Venice I propos'd a Journey thither he promis'd to go with me if the Cardinal his Uncle would bear us company His Eminence at my first motion made some difficulty to consent but yielded at last upon my assuring him I was not with Child the fear of my miscarriage being the Obstacle he objected We left Rome about the end of April and had a pleasant Journey the more to my satisfaction in that the Constable was not so scrupulously careful of me as formerly but allow'd me to use my Coach or ride and sometimes at full speed as I pleas'd Till this occasion he had always seem'd to love me very well but was now so far from being angry at my excesses that he bid me one day not discover my condition to any lest it might come to the Cardinals Ear. Having escaped very well all my Journey I miscarry'd the second time soon after my arrival at Venice this deferr'd for a while the effect of the Constables Vows but I lay in of this miscarriage a fortnight only and was perfectly recover'd While I went with Child I was always pretty well and being now the fourth time so I pass'd the Carnaval with much pleasure in seeing Plays in feasting danceing and other Entertainments playing often at Bassette a Game I was much taken with wherein I had the Company of the Prince of Brunswick and the Duke of Mantua and other Persons of quality who were come to Venice to enjoy the pleasures of the Season In the midst of which I was tormented with the fear of leaving a place of so much divertisement and returning to Rome Accordingly the Constable told me one day we must of necessity be gone and that having gone with Child a pretty while I was to prevent the like accident as had happened to me at my coming to Venice I was much troubled at this order though expected and to make me comply with it he was forc'd to give me his word to come thither the next Carnaval with that we parted having taken leave of our Friends particularly the Prince of Brunswick who was so pleased with our company and the Constables civilities that he promis'd to come to Rome on purpose to see us and would bring with him thither the Princess his Wife I was carry'd all the way in a Litter our Journeys were easie so that it was the begining of Summer when we got to Rome where having past the great heats which were more troublesome for my being so big with Child I was brought to Bed the begining of November of a second Son the night before Cardinal Colonna was to take his Journey for Spain to bring the Infanta Margaret of Austria to the Emperour His Eminence was extreme glad at the news brought him of a second prop of his Family newly born and not content to express his Joy in words he made me several very fair presents and no less rich than the former and presently took his leave in obedience to his Majesties orders By the Cardinals absence the Constable came to have the absolute command and disposal of all his Estate the management whereof had been left to his Eminence A few days after we went to Cisterna where the Prince of Brunswick with his Lady the Princess came from Rome to see us and stay'd with us three days The Constable and I exprest our selves very sensible of so extraordinary an Obligation and I particularly thank'd him for keeping his word so exactly I will not undertake to speak of the civility and generosity of this Prince being qualities as well known as his name As soon as I came to Rome I went to pay the Princess her visit and found in her carriage her humour her wit and her dress an Abridgment of all the charming Perfections and exactest Beauty of France About that time my Brother being come to Venice writ to us to come to him which we could not then do but respited our Journey till Spring when we set out for Venice to be there at the Ascension to see the solemnity of that Feast and that famous Fair which so many curious Persons from all parts of Europe resort to see The Circumstances of the one and the other are too long to be inserted here I was then with Child but being more careful of my self than formerly I escap'd without any ill accident in my Journey or at Venice where having seen all the Solemnities of the Feast of Ascension we went for Millan the begining of Summer which we spent very pleasantly till the Constable finding himself obliged the begining of September to pass over into Spain left me in much trouble for his absence which the Marchioness of Balbaces the Marquess her Husband and my Brother who was pleas'd to bear us company endeavoured to sweeten to me by the great kindness they exprest for me While I was afflicting my self for the Constables absence he was in extream danger by a terrible storm that overtook him in the Mediterranean being aboard a Gally of the Squadron of Scicily bound for Spain But having narrowly escap'd it he went ashore and though without equipage continued his Journey by Land He took the first Coach he met with till he might accommodate himself better with necessaries to carry him to Madrid where he arriv'd at length three days after the death of King Philip the Fourth The death of this Monarch having chang'd the face of Affairs caus'd the Constable to change his design and made him resolve to return after a fortnights stay in that Court where the extraordinary solitude on that sad occasion and his impatience to see me would not permit him to stay long to satisfie this desire and perform his promise to me of being back by that time that I was to lye in he came by the way of France and arriv'd at Millan about the end of November His Sister and I went to meet him out of Town where I was as joyful to see him as I had been troubled for his absence and the very night he arriv'd I brought him a third Son for his welcome-home But having been in labour of this Child to
me undertake this Journey with a great deal of pleasure and I forgot nothing that might oblige the Constable to come thither also who did all he could to excuse himself and divert me alledging among other reasons I was not oblig'd to go so far Yet he resolved to go upon the arrival of a Courrier sent by the Marquess de los Balbaces to inform us my Sister was arriv'd at Altoff and to invite us to Millan The Constable having with some difficulty answer'd he would go we set forward The Marchioness and I in a Caleche in which we went away Post and the Constable in another with the Countess d' Estela whom I formerly mention'd by the name of Hortensia Our train was reduced to three or four Valetts whom we thought most necessary for a Journey of haste with whom we arriv'd at Millan in six days where I found my self extremly disorder'd not only with the fatigue of the Journey but the perpetual Jars I had with the Constable who was never better pleas'd then when he saw things fall out ill in this Journey undertaken against his will in the worst time of the Year Being arriv'd we learnt by the Marquess de los Balbaces that Madam Mazarin was at a Country house six or seven Leagues from Millan and set out presently for the place where we found her a-Bed which she was oblig'd to keep for a hurt she had received in her Knees by a fall from a Horse the hurt was considerable though she said it was nothing and bore it so well she appeared not troubled at all with it Being newly come from France she had her fancy full of the fashions of that Country and the humours of the Nation which considering only the outside takes the measures of esteeming others meerly from the dress they appear in The Marchioness and I very defective in that point found after a very cold reception our ill equipage had met with the contempt it deserv'd This mortification being over the passage by water being thought more convenient for my Sister we embarqued for Millan where we arriv'd that Night and the Marchioness soon after return'd for Bologna Every one was desirous to see Madam Mazarin the greatest things seldom answer the Ideas we conceive of them before-hand and generally fall in their value with us when acquainted with them but 't was otherwise with my Sister who exceeded at sight all that had been imagin'd of her and discover'd new Graces every day she was seen which was not so often as was wish'd by reason of the great pleasure she took at Millan in being alone appearing only to her own People and locking her self up in the Apartment we had provided for her where she kept her Bed for the most part that she might be cur'd the sooner of her hurt so that if she went sometimes abroad with us which was not ordinary yet she went very negligently drest though she appear'd beautiful as ever her hurt which was rare having added new Graces to her Person so that in a loose dress she look'd as charming as in the most exact and compleat the World could afford Some weeks after my Brother came to us and was ravished to see her but this mighty kindness was quickly broke off on the account of a Gentleman of my Sisters whom she gave a little too much encouragement it being usual with those of his Character to forget themselves and abuse the liberty allow'd them yet I reconcil'd them though but for a few days they falling out again upon a difference of which you shall have an account in its proper place I was then so weary of so long stay at Millan that I pray'd the Constables leave to go with my Brother and Sister to Venice The answer he made my humble request was he could not go so soon nor would go thither any more but that I might go without him I was so shock'd at the refusal and especially the manner of it when I saw him take pleasure in crossing me that I had left his House that very moment had not my resentment yielded and submitted to the arguments of the Marchioness his Sister against it The reason the Constable staid so long at Millan was only to attend the coming of the Marquess of Mortara the new Spanish Governour but finding his coming deferr'd longer than expected he resolved to be gone My Sister and Brother desir'd of him that I could not obtain not able to deny it them he gave his consent on condition we should not make any long stay at Venice knowing it a place I was most pleas'd with and pretending the cause of our short stay to be a promise he had made Cardinal Chigi to meet him at a hunting match at Sienna We quitted Millan with the satisfaction of having reconciled my Bother and Sister the second time my Brother promis'd to come to us before we left Sienna But having heard by the way the Cardinal was not there we went to Bologna to attend his coming The Constable here lodg'd in a House belonging to one of his Gentlemen to a-avoid the trouble of complements would have been expected from him had he lodg'd in a greater The short time we staid there the Marchioness de los Balbaces was very good company for us but though we were entertain'd in the Country with great and sumptuous Collations I was so troubled to see my Sister so sad that I took no delight in the Entertainments At last we went for Sienna upon the news we had of the Cardinals arrival there where I began to recover my good humour through the pleasant reception given us by his Eminence who feasted us for fifteen days wherein the pleasure of hunting contributed not a little to our divertisement my Sister being much taken with that exercise and doing often as mortal execution on the Game with her Hands as with her Eyes on the Gamesters Amidst all this joy I had the grief to see a new falling out between my Sister and Brother who came to us according to his promise and presently after this third broyl returned for Venice My Brother being gone we went to Marino an Estate of the Constables qualify'd with the Title of a Dukedom within twelve Leagues of Rome Having staid there till Allhallantide we went to Rome where my Sister continuing her way of living at Millan made our House a very Wilderness letting us see her very seldom avoiding our conversation and not receiving any visit Her retreat extremely troubled me and my Brother who in few days came to Rome where he had new cause of displeasure Every body look'd upon her retirement as an effect of the ill Counsels of a Gentleman of hers in whom she had great confidence and I was willing to use all my Endeavours to perswade her to other courses And mov'd with a just resentment to see all my care and pains made the subject of their raillery and laughter I told that Gentleman who was call'd
to Ballacas a place belonging to the King within a League of Madrid that he might give his Majestie notice I had taken care the Marquess de Camarasa should send me aâ—nother Coach under pretence of sending two of my maids thither to fit an Apartment for me in the house of Dona Cecilia de Vera who had given me the Choice of my Apartment there except that in the possession of the Prince de Monte Sarctno who was prisoner there on his Parol This Coach made no more hast than the other and I had time in staying for it to hear four masses Being come at last with a Gentleman in it who had been formerly recommended to me by the Constable we went together to the house I mentioned where we found only the Princes people who gave us their Apartment as the best and provided for us a sumptuous dinner About four in the afternoon the Nuncio arriv'd accompani'd by Don Fernando Having absolv'd me of the Excommunication I had incurr'd by coming out of the Covent without leave from him he gave me so good reasons that Don Fernando could do no less than present that memorial to the Councel of State and excus'd him so well for the Declarations and Remonstrances he had made against my liberty that he prevail'd with me to pardon him at his request I lay that night at Ballacas though without any Sleep having had no rest for a Rhume that troubled me occasion'd by the dampness of the Room and attended with a fever this induc'd me to return to Madrid to live in the house of Don Fernando Colonna In order to it I dispatch'd a Page to the Duke d' Ossuna intreating him to send me presently a Coach and six Mules Don Fernand coming into my chamber I acquainted him with my design and desir'd him not to oppose it which he was so far from doing that he writ to the Nuntio and having represented to him the poor Condition he found me in and that it was better I should be at Madrid to wait at his house His Majesties orders he intreated him to send me a Coach assoon as possible I was glad of this fearing the Duke of Ossuna being a Minister of state would have excus'd himself from sending any The Nuncio presently shew'd Don Bartholomew Legasa the Letter receiv'd from Don Fernand which having been shew'd to some of the Councel answer was sent me It was not thought fit my request should be granted the Nuncio was not discourag'd at the answer but having shew'd the same Letter to Don Jeronymo d' Egua he carried it to his Royal Highness and receiv'd order from him to tell the Nuncio he saw no inconvenience in granting what Don Fernando desir'd Upon this the Nuncio presently sent me a Coach with some wagons for my family having in vain expected the Duke of Ossuna's Coach who sent me word by the Page after eight hours waiting he would come in person to seeme This was in truth a great honour but it would have been a greater obligation had he sent me a Coach when I was under that impatience of returning for Madrid fearing I might be prevented by an order to prohibit my entrance there especially when I had receiv'd a Letter from his Highness wherein she told me I had mis-interpreted his Majesties order and that before my leaving the Covent several circumstances ought to have been adjudged as well for Choice of the place I should go to as for my being there in that splendor his Majesty thought decent and fit for my person But my fear was pretty well over when I consider'd this was not an order but advice and a gentle admonition let me see the error I committed While I continued under these troubles the Nuncio's Coach arriv'd I quickly went into it still fearing an order to stay where I was We were scarce got half way to Madrid when we met the Dukes of Ossuna Veraguas Uzedas with Father Ventimilla coming to see me follow'd by four Coaches and a great Trayn on horse-back I railed the first for his being so punctual he answer'd I had no cause to complain of him who instead of sending a Coach was come himself and for one Coach brought me four which were all at my Service if Don Fernand would be my convoy We travell'd together to the gates of Madrid where we parted I met the Nuncio walking afoot He came very civilly to my Coach and gave me some advice for my conduct which I observ'd to very good purpose This accidental conference being over I went to the house of Don Fernando Colona where I am yet expecting every day how his Majestie will dispose of me of which I am hitherto altogether ignorant though I have reason to believe his Majesties Justice and Clemency and the great prudence of his Royal Highness will put an end to my Troubles and permit me to enjoy that repose and tranquillity I have so much need oâ— and earnestly long for FINIS A Catalogue of some BOOKS Printed for J. Magnes and R. Bentley Folio LOrd Bacon's Natural History in Ten Centuries Whereunto is newly added The History Natural and Experimental of Life and Death or of the Prolongation of Life The History of Lapland wherein is shewed the Original Manners Habits Marriages Conjurations of that People Fodinae Regales or The History of the Laws and Places of the chief Mines and Mineral Works in England Wales and the English Pale in Ireland as also of the Mint and Money With a Clavis explaining some difficult Words relating to Mines
at St. Sebastian during which the Governour Don Baltasar Pantoja us'd me and my People with all imaginable civility These eight days being over and vext no answer was come I resolv'd to pursue my Journey towards Madrid in hopes to receive answer by the way Being a days Journey beyond Burges and seeing no appearance of what I expected I sent an Express to the Admiral to to know if I might depend upon the favour I desir'd of him by my Letters from Antwerp and from St. Sebastian Continuing my Journey I arriv'd at Alcobendas a Village three Leagues from Madrid where the Courrier brought me Letters one from the Queen wherein her Majesty did me all the honours I could wish the other from the Admiral who very obligingly granted me the house I desir'd adding he would come in person to receive me and offer it with his own mouth The Abbot Vigliani to whom I had dispatcht a Gentleman to give notice of my coming arriv'd as I was eating something with his Coach and another from the Nuncio who had sent with it one of his Gentlemen to wait on me Tyr'd with heat and with travelling I ask'd the Abbot Vigliani if it were not possible to get me a little Ice He was no less astonish'd at the question than I was asham'd I had ask'd him for so ordinary a thing He presently sent for all sorts of pleasant Liquors for me who heartily thank'd him for so seasonable a Refreshment At his request I went in his Coach to our Ladies of Belvedere about two Leagues from Madrid where I was received by the Duchess d' Albuquerque and the Admirals Daughter in Law Wife to the Marquess d' Alcannizas the Admirals second Son and by the Duke d' Albuquerque since dead They brought me to a House of pleasure of the Admirals on the East-side of Madrid very richly furnish'd and adorn'd with the most excellent and rarest Painting in Europe and in a word the finest and most pleasant place of all Spain I was there about two Months and then fearing I might be troublesome to the Admiral who treated me splendidly enough and seeing him naturally careless so that he did not press the Queen for her permission for my going into a Covent as she had promis'd me I went my self to speak to her Majesty and intreated her Order to the Nuns of St. Domingo el Real to receive me into their Covent or allow me a House they had hard by between their Covent and that of our Lady de los Angeles of the Order of St. Francis The Queen receiv'd me with great kindness and granted my request and the next day sent order to the Nuns to receive me or give me the House I mention'd Their answer was they would obey the order but intreated her Majesty with all due respect she would be pleased to make an Authentick Declaration under her Royal Signature that the favour they did me should not be drawn into Example which her Majesty granted them for preserving their Priviledges and with Circumstances much to my honour I entred this Covent the last of August accompanied by the Nuncio now Cardinal Marescotti the Admiral and the Marquess d' Alcannizas That I might neither give nor receive trouble in my new habitation they assign'd me the half of the next house for my Apartment where they plac'd Grates and left the rest of it for the Abbot Don Fernand de Colonna and my Family I was at first at a great loss for want of the Spanish Tongue and my ignorance of the Customs of the Nation and had it not been for Donna Victoria Porcia Oresco Sister to the Marquess Mortara then Abbess who could speak Italian pretty well and is very ingenious I had had a very ill time on 't Afterwards I made an acquaintance with some of the Nuns and past my time pleasantly enough among them till having ask'd leave to go abroad once a week as I had been made to believe I should and was granted me at Turin I understood it had been denied me at Rome Soon after this I had news that the Constable whom I had pressed with much earnestness to send me my second Son and in order thereto that he would take him along with him into Flanders where the Queen at my motion had honour'd him with a command of two Troops of Horse was so far from giving me that satisfaction that he had written to the Queen and the Admiral who had desir'd it of him for me that he had no mind I should stir out of the Covent and intreated her Majesty not to permit it that I was safe and in good hands at Madrid and that he was loath to hazard the seeing me at liberty elsewhere Nothing provokes me more than contradiction 't is hard to express how highly I resented this usage especially considering I was continually watch'd by a number of persons who were spyes upon my actions by the appointment of the Abbot Don Fernand who with a furious rigour executed the Constables orders Besides there were several disaffected persons who made it their business to set my Husband against me and do me ill offices writing to him I had a mind to be gone and would certainly do it if not carefully watch'd This made me resolve to quit the Covent and let them see all the pains they took to keep me up close could keep me there no longer than I pleas'd Don Fernand being abroad and all my Men with him I commanded my Maids to throw down those strong thick and high Walls the Author of my life says were the only Obstacle could stop me I gave the Duke d' Ossuna the Admiral and the Prince d' Astillano notice of what I had done by a Billet written to every of them intreating their favour on this occasion since it was not my design as my Enemies gave out to flye into France or into England but to be at liberty in the House I was in it being not just I should be kept up in a place I had freely and voluntarily entered The Duke of Ossuna though an honest and a gallant Gentleman was willing to see the storm over and having sent on the morrow to complement me respited his visit for some days convincing me on this occasion he was more a Pollititian than gallant or obliging It was a whole week ere I could see the Prince d' Astillano who excus'd himself saying the news came to him late The Nuncio Melini and the Admiral whom Don Fernand had pray'd to come presently fail'd not to do it not to favour my design but execute their own which was to oblige me to return into the Cloyster I did all I could to prevent it and found no small help from the difficulty the Nuns made to receive me yet wanting protection and having cause to fear the worst from them who had prov'd so contrary to my expectations I follow'd the advice of returning into the Cloyster the Nuns having submitted upon the
Nuncio's threating to excommunicate them in case of resistance The Admiral after so important an expedition proud to see me coop'd up solicited their Majesties to have me continued in the Cloyster and strictly confin'd The Constable was extreme glad at the news of this happy success and will certainly be still well pleas'd with this Court while they continue to vex me his mind being so much alter'd that he finds matter of joy in the oppression of my liberty I endur'd some Months with impatience enough the violence they us'd to keep me in the Covent I had little hopes of redress under the Queens Government who answer'd my petition for liberty that she would grant it me with all her heart if the Constable would consent to it Besides the Admiral being the main Instrument to execute the resolutions of Don Fernand Valenzuela was too great a Friend of my Husbands to admit of any proposal that might give him offence in crossing the resolutions they had taken against me what the Constable had given full power to execute In this lamentable case was I when Heaven pittying the distressed State of this Monarchy and concerned for the preservation of it inspir'd the Grandees to insinuate to his Majesty how necessary it was to call home his Highness Don John of Austria his Majesties Brother to attend his Royal Person as the sole remedy for those mischiefs that threatned the Government This let in a Beam of hope and brought into my remembrance the saying of Father Ventimilla a person no less illustrious for Virtue than Birth That I must owe my liberty to that Prince who at his return would certainly restore it me I resolv'd to make use of so favourable an occasion not doubting but it would fall out as had been foretold the particular esteem I always had for the excellent qualities of that Prince made me passionately desire to see him in full possession of all the honours due to him My desires were heightned by the advantage I hop'd to draw thence to my self who look'd upon my liberty as an infallible consequent of his return All I could contribute to his Glory and Interest was my good wishes and insinuations in his favour I addrest my self to the Duke of Ossuna my Kinsman and the person I was most oblig'd to As for the Admiral and some others they had given over visiting me lest I should imploy them in business inconsistent with the good intelligence they would hold with my Husband The Duke I found so well dispos'd to undertake this famous negotiation that he long'd for the happy moment to put it in execution Matters being in a pretty forwardness and notice given me by Father Ventimilla that his Highness was parted from Saragosa I thought it time to put my designs in execution and allowing no longer time than I thought absolutely necessary for the Princes Voyage though perform'd with all imaginable speed when by my computation I thought his Arrival not far of I went in open day out of the Covent not as before but through the Gate and the Porters looking on Having stept into a Coach with a Lady my Friend who came on purpose to receive me I went directly to the Marchioness Mortara's who happened to be abroad but at her return receiv'd me with great kindness though much surpriz'd to see me I had given the persons above mentioned notice of my second as of my first coming out of the Covent and the Marchioness sent word to the President of Castille I was at her House Don Fernand having before-hand given order all about for arresting me that I might be forc'd to return into the Cloyster though he knew not where I was but thought I design'd to leave the Kingdom The Admiral at Don Fernands instance and for reasons he knows altogether indispos'd to favour me no sooner knew where I was but he presently fell to consider how to have me clapt up again into a Covent or some other place of confinement The short time I was at liberty I received not a visit from any but the Duke d' Ossuna whom the Marchioness advertis'd of my being with her in all the discourse I had with him there was nothing remarkable but his telling me it was impossible to make amends for the fault I committed in quitting the Covent but to retire to a House where I might find the piety and innocence of a Cloyster without the rigors and austerities in practice there The Prince d' Astillano neither came nor sent me answer but had the gallantry to send Don Fernand the Billet received from me and assure him by Letter he would do the Constable all the service he could The Admiral willing to appear as honest a man as the other came not to see me being wholly taken up with business that concern'd me which if you would know it was a Councel held against me and he thought fit to defer his visit till the Councel were over I knew nothing the while of what was plotting against me no person daring to give me information till Monsieur de Lindenau extraordinary Embassador from Denmark a Man of Honour and Merit gave me intelligence of all by a Maid he sent to me I could not speak with him and attributing his advice to his Friendship without taking further care to prevent what might follow I thought no more of it though the fears I was continually in were so many presages to induce me to believe the truth of his advertisements The Embassadrice of Denmark a Lady of great resolution and wit and the Duke d' Ossuna had so dissipated my fears by assuring me positively they were causeless that I thought my self very safe However two days after the Nuncio the Admiral and Don Garcia de Medrano one of the Councel and Chamber of Castille made me an important visit by the Kings order The business of it was to oblige me to return into the Covent telling me that having entred it by his order I should not have left it without permission from him The Admiral spoke first and told me he was come only to acquaint me with his Majesties pleasure to which the Nuncio added that his business was to facilitate the execution of it and remove the obstacles might be expected from the Nuns the third speaking like a Minister of Justice told me with a severe tone he had order to take me along and that in case of resistance he would not stir from me but watch me very narrowly Their Remonstrances and Threats would never have prevail'd upon me had not the Marchioness press'd me on the other side and told me it would be a very great displeasure to her to see any violence offer'd me in her House in case of my refusal to obey the Kings orders adding I were better submit and that when I was in the Covent I might get out every day with his Majesties leave With these weak reasons of hers I was perswaded to return once more into